2of46US Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) listens as Michael Cohen, attorney for President Trump, testifies before the House Oversight and Reform Committee in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on February 27, 2019. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP)MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty ImagesPhoto: Mandel Ngan, AFP/Getty Images

3of46Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., speaks with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., as Michael Cohen, former attorney to President Donald Trump, testifies before the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday.Photo: Washington Post photo by Matt McClain

4of46US Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-NY, questions Michael Cohen, US President Donald Trump's former personal attorney. Click through the gallery for social media reactions to the hearing.Photo: Mandel Ngan, AFP/Getty Images

As the questioning of Michael Cohen, former lawyer to President Donald Trump, revved back up after an afternoon break on Wednesday in front of the House Oversight Committee, many were waiting with anticipation to see how he would be questioned by a rising star on the left, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.

Some expected grandstanding, but instead, Ocasio-Cortez led Cohen through a series of questions that developed further investigative leads for congressional investigators to explore. Cohen's answers generated a string of names of people who know about the president's alleged asset inflation practices, and about the trove of potentially incriminating documents allegedly held by the National Enquirer.

The tabloid's owner, American Media Inc., has admitted to a practice called "catch and kill" — paying money for exclusive rights to a story and then ensuring it never sees publication — to bury stories that could have hurt Trump's chance at being elected president.

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Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen says he's worried there will not be a "peaceful transition of power" if the president doesn't win re-election. Cohen said his loyalty to Donald Trump cost him everything, and he doesn't want the same for the US. (Feb. 27)

Video: Associated Press

Ocasio-Cortez questioned Cohen about an alleged "treasure trove" of documents assembled from such catch-and-kill operations and apparently held in the office of AMI Chairman David Pecker. Cohen had said earlier in the hearing that the president was very concerned about the whereabouts of the documents.

"So you would say the person who knows the whereabouts of these documents would be David Pecker?" asked Ocasio-Cortez.

Another line of questioning related to Trump's alleged tendency to inflate the value of his properties to insurance companies, using the example of Trump Links, a golf course in the Bronx that the Washington Post reported was built with $127 million in taxpayer funding.

Filipa Ioannou is a producer at SFGATE, where she writes about an eclectic mix of topics ranging from politics to internet-famous animals to wellness trends.

She is especially interested in the intersection of politics and culture, and in the fresh and irreverent angles on state and national politics that resonate locally and get people talking. She always has her eye on the politicians and celebrities with Bay Area ties who are driving the conversation on the national stage, from Kamala Harris to Guy Fieri. She brings equal curiosity to policy details that will impact Bay Area zoning rules as she does to Arnold Schwarzenegger's flamboyant cowboy boots or Jerry Brown's corgi.

She previously covered breaking news at the San Francisco Chronicle and politics at the San Antonio Express-News and PolitiFact. She grew up in New York and graduated from Princeton magna cum laude in Near Eastern Studies in 2015.